Right from the Start
by wizards-gold
Summary: Fred and Hermione: everyone knows they were meant to be, and now you get to see why.
1. Chapter 1

_Dear Diary,_

_A letter arrived at my house last night in the oddest way imaginable. An owl brought it! It came in through the doorway when Dad came home from work. The owl flew in and landed on the edge of my pudding bowl, then held its leg out for me to unattach the letter. Mum was talking mostly to herself about how disgusting birds are and how they'll spread disease into our house, and Dad just stood by the open door in shock. He told me not to touch the owl, and for once, I didn't listen. This owl had come for me, to give me this letter, and I was determined to read it. I carefully took the letter off of the snowy bird on my pudding bowl and looked at the address._

_Hermione Granger_

_Dining Room_

_I wondered how on Earth this person knew I was in the dining room. Perhaps they even knew I was eating pudding? I laughed a loud at my little joke. After all, this was a joke, wasn't it? I knew those ratty boys down the street were jokesters, and good ones at that. Perhaps this was their doing, I wondered. I looked down at the letter in my hands yet again. Maybe I was over thinking everything, but I had to find out where this mysterious letter came from, and most importantly, why it came. The snowy owl had not yet left the rim of my pudding bowl. He seemed to be looking at me, like he was expecting something. I stared back. Apparently tired of waiting for whatever he wanted, the owl pecked at my hand. Softly at first, then harder and harder as I declined whatever it was I needed to give him. After my hand, he flew to my shoulder and started pecking my ear. My ear still hurts, now that I think about it. Anyway, I wasn't prepared for this at all, so I jumped up, scaring the bird and dropping my unopened letter. "What do you want?" I screamed at him. I ran to the kitchen. Maybe he wanted food? Or perhaps he was thirsty? None of my thoughts seemed to be correct, as he make no move for the leftover turkey or the bowl of water left out for our old cat, Midge. I was still panicking by the time Mum and Dad broke their state of shock and joined me in the kitchen, trying to get the pecking owl off of me. Dad tried to wrestle it off with no success, and Mum was frantically trying to find something to throw. Now, before you go thinking that my parents and I are animal haters, let me tell you that we aren't. Dad has not once previously wrestled a bird, and Mum has never had an intent to hit one. But tonight, they were just focused on keeping my ear intact. I could see Mum fumbling with her wallet through a flurry of feathers, and could hear Dad grunting while trying to grab the protesting owl. The next few moments happened so quickly, I don't think any of us know exactly what happened. I believe Mum threw coins at him, and the beautiful snowy owl grabbed one in its beak and flew away. Our kitchen was left in a mess of feathers and coins, and all of us wondering what on Earth had just happened. I quickly recovered from this state of shock and made my way back to the dining room as Mum and Dad were cleaning up. My letter was on the ground, beneath my bowl of pudding that had toppled over in all of the commotion. After scraping most of it off with my hand, I finally had my chance to open it. I couldn't believe what it said. It was rubbish. Definitely those boys down the street. But for the first time, I noticed the seal on the back of the envelope. "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry" it read. I knew even those boys couldn't fake that. I read the letter again, trying to absorb as much of the information as possible._

**_Miss Hermione Granger,_**

**_ According to our records, you will turn 11 years old in 2 weeks time. I would like to congratulate you at this time for your acceptance into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. However, I am aware of the fact that you are being raised by Muggles (non-magical people), so I do not expect you to already be aware of the fact that you are indeed a witch._**

**_ We, the staff of Hogwarts, will be happy to answer any questions that you may have on this ordeal. I'm sure you are not used to our customs, but I'm also very sure that you will pick them up quickly._**

**_ Your official welcome letter will be sent to you on the morning of your 11__th__ birthday._**

**_Sincerely,_**

**_Minerva McGonagall_**

**_Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_**

_I'm a witch. Can you believe it? Me, Hermione Granger, the buck-toothed, bushy haired, know-it-all, a witch? I would write more on the subject, after all, I do have a rather lot to say, but it's getting late. I'm spending most of tomorrow at the library. I feel as if I should know more on this subject of magic before I start school. School. I'm going to school to learn magic. Even saying it aloud doesn't help. I just can't believe this is real._


	2. Chapter 2

_Freddie?_

_**Yeah, Georgie?**_

_What do you think 3__rd__ year will be like?_

_**Why do you care? We'll be too busy getting on Filch's nerves to actually learn what they tell us.**_

_Very true._

_**Again, oh brother mine, why do you ask?**_

_I don't know, I just feel like this year will be different._

_**That's extremely cliché.**_

_And since when do you use the word cliché?_

_**Georgie, you have a point.**_

_Don't I always?_

_**Don't push it.**_

_So when do you think our Welcome letters will come?_

_**Why are you suddenly so focused on school?**_

_Why do you keep answering my questions with more questions?_

_**Because your questions are getting ridiculous.**_

_I think your face is getting ridiculous._

_**Ridiculously attractive.**_

_Good night, Gred._

_**Giving up already, Forge?**_

_In your dreams._

_**Trust me, you aren't in them. Goodnight.**_


	3. Chapter 3

_Dear Diary,_

_The past few weeks seemed to have flown by. Mum and Dad began to look at me a little funny after the first letter arrived, but I'm sure they're both just in shock. I was too. Another owl came on the morning of my birthday, as promised, but we knew how to handle it this time. The owl expected money! Of course, I feel rather silly not thinking of it before. I mean, before that letter came, I would think it crazy to assume that an owl would want money, but now I guess anything's possible._

_The second letter was again informing me of where I would be attending school, gave me ticket for the train ride to school, and also gave me a list of the things I would need. It took Mum and Dad a while to figure where to buy a wand and cauldron. The Halloween shop did us no good, and we didn't even bother with the supermarket across town. About a week before I was due at the train station, a third owl arrived, again atop my bowl of pudding. The barn owl stretched out its leg for me to untie yet another letter as Mum went to get change from her purse. I was wasting time with the little knot, hoping that the owl wouldn't start pecking me again. Mum came back with a little handful of change so the bird could take its pick, but the barn owl just left before even looking at it. I looked down to my pudding to realize that that's how he'd been paid. I directed my attention back to the letter with the red stamp on the back, apparently the symbol of Hogwarts. Mum and Dad were just looking at me, waiting for me to read it aloud. The third letter contained instructions on where to get the needed supplies and how to get there. The envelope also held a little silver old fashioned key that couldn't have weighed more than a paperclip. It was the key to my new vault at the Wizarding bank, according to the letter._

_I was able to get all of my school supplies with ease, thanks to the help from Hogwarts, and getting aboard the train was also a success. I do find it rather strange to have to walk through a brick wall in order to reach the platform, but I realized right then that a lot of things were going to be rather strange this year._

_Not knowing anybody, I sat with a rather pudgy looking boy who was desperately trying to find his pet toad. I've never known someone to have a toad as a pet, but I just reminded myself yet again that things were different here. The pudgy boy, who later told me his name was Neville, asked me to help him look for his toad, which he explained was named Trevor. I ventured towards the back of the train, peeking in various carriages in hopes of finding the toad, but all I found were stares from the older students who were wondering why a lone first year was aimlessly walking around the train. _

_Wanting to escape their stares (honestly, who wouldn't?) I jumped into the next carriage I came to. A boy with bright red hair and freckles splashed across his face had his new wand pointed at the rat sitting on his lap, and looking at the boy with messy black hair across from him. I explained to them that a boy named Neville had lost his toad, but when they said they hadn't seen it, I asked the red haired boy if he was about to perform magic. I was really hoping he was going to, I had to know what kind of things we'd be learning this year, not to mention the fact that he was performing actual magic, not silly little card tricks like the boys in my neighborhood. He recited a chant that he said his brother Fred had taught him, but the rat didn't change at all. I pretended not to notice. "I'm Hermione Granger," I told them. They looked like first years, and I wanted to know who would be in my classes._

"_Ron Weasley," the freckled boy informed me. I turned toward the black haired boy. "I'm Harry. Harry Potter," he said after a moment. I remembered reading about him in one of my new schoolbooks, but I couldn't remember why he was mentioned, exactly. Instead of elaborating on the subject, I informed Ron that there was a bit of dirt on his nose and proceeded to head back to my original carriage._

_I was about 2 doors away when I heard a mini-explosion from a carriage in front of me, quickly followed by laughter. Hoping no one had gotten hurt, I ran towards the carriage the laughter was coming from and opened up the door. Three boys looked as if they were about to topple over with glee. One was rather short with dark skin, and the other two looked so similar my first thought was that I was seeing double. I then noticed that one of the twins had ashes all over his face, and was holding what looked to be a glass bottle in his right hand. Both twins, ashen faced and not, had flaming red hair. Just like Ron, I thought. The boys continued laughing for a minute or two, but relaxed a little when the twin without the ashen face saw me. "George, Lee, I think we have another person who wants to test it out."_

"_And what exactly are you testing? I heard an explosion—," I started, but the other twin, either George or Lee, cut me off._

"_That was us." He beamed. His teeth looked very white against the black of the ash covering his face._

"_So nobody was hurt at al—," I started again, but I was again cut off by one of the twins._

"_Nobody was hurt. You don't have to worry about us, erm…"_

"_Hermione." I said it breathlessly. This twin had a reassuring smile, and it made my heart quicken just a little bit._

"_Well, you don't have to worry about us, Hermione," he smiled. "We're fine."_

_I couldn't think of anything to say. The twin looked to be a few years older than me, and just knowing that fact made my heart beat quicken even more, though I'm still not sure why._

"_Okay," was all I managed to say before awkwardly stepping out of the carriage and closing the door behind me. I was still rather breathless when the pudgy boy named Neville came around and told me that he'd found his toad, Trevor. I nodded slightly, completely out of it. That red haired twin would not leave my head, and I hadn't even bothered to ask his name. I thought hard back at our conversation, but he only mentioned the names of his twin and companion, George and Lee. Or Lee and George. Whatever their names were, I still didn't know what his name was. After thinking for several minutes, I noted that I hadn't even left the outside of their carriage door. I stumbled away to get my trunk from Neville's carriage when I heard voices yet again. _

"_Who was that girl Fred and George were talking to?" I heard one girl say._

"_I have no idea, so she's probably a first year." Another girl said to the first._

_Hmm, so that was his name. Fred. I continued to sit on that thought for the rest of the train ride, on a little boat ride across the lake to a brilliant castle, and in a huge room lit by hundreds of floating candles and filled with students wearing the same uniform as me. Fred. His name bounced into my thoughts yet again as a lady with thin lips and a tight gray bun explained that when she called our name, we would on a stool in front of all of the other students with a shabby black hat atop our heads. "I wonder if Fred's ever worn that hat," I thought. Why on earth was I even thinking about him? He's older than me, and we exchanged not even 3 sentences to each other. I pushed all of those thoughts away as my named was called. I climbed slowly on the stool as the woman with the tight gray bun gently pressed the old black hat onto my head. It seemed to talk, but inside my head. Like a voice that only I could hear. I thought I was going crazy._

"_You're not crazy," the hat said in a rough voice. "You're very smart. You have lots of potential, Hermione Granger. I think you'd do well in Ravenclaw."_

"_Whatever house Fred is in." I suddenly thought, surprising myself._

"_The Weasley? Very well. You're in GRYFFINDOR!" the hat seemed to scream the last word so the whole Hall heard him. One table in the middle of the room immediately started standing and clapping, and I saw Fred looking more excited than anybody._


	4. Chapter 4

**_A/N: I started writing this when I was twelve or thirteen, and like most of-the-moment ideas you get when you're twelve or thirteen, I lost interest in the idea of fanfiction after the first few chapters. To be honest, I didn't think anybody was reading it and I had become preoccupied with new things. What really took me by surprise was the e-mails I was receiving in regards to the reviews this story was getting or the watch-lists it was being added to. I went through all of the reviews today and I just wanted to say thank you. They are very, very sweet and constructive! I love constructive. The original notebook I kept for this story has been found, and I will try my very best to continue and finish what I started. Thank you to everyone, especially those who told me to update it back in 2011. Sorry about that._**

* * *

><p>Fred and George, although George always preferred their billing to be George and Fred, sat together in a small cabin with none other than Lee Jordan on the Hogwarts Express. Most of their fellow students were catching up with their friends, but this group didn't have the need for it; they'd spent practically the whole summer together. There was never a silent moment between the three of them, though they never did much talking. The air was usually filled with laughter, small explosions, or small explosions followed by laughter.<p>

The first of September was no exception. Lee was attempting to convince his twin comrades that he had seen someone burn water with a disarming spell. "Bullshit," George smiled, completely filled with disbelief.

"Ya don't believe me then?" Lee taunted. "Then I'm sure you think it wouldn't do anything if you tried it?"

Always up for a challenge, George took the glass bottle of water Lee was holding and pressed the tip of his wand into it before giving the most simple disarming spell he could remember. The water didn't burn as Lee had sworn it would; instead, the whole flask had become a cloud of dust and ash that, with a decent-sized _bang_, ended up all over George.

The whole cabin burst into laughter. "I can't… believe… you fell…for that," Lee managed to say between fits of laughter. They all seemed to calm down just moments later when a young, bushy-haired brunette burst into the cabin. She seemed alarmed, _probably from the explosion, _Fred thought.

"George, Lee, I think we have another person who wants to test it out," Fred smiled at his comrades. He could tell the girl was a first year, and he guessed she was a muggle-born by the her utmost surprise at the simplest of magic.

"And what exactly are you testing? I heard an explosion—" the girl began, only to be cut off by George.

"That was us," he grinned, obviously proud of himself.

"So nobody was hurt at al—" the girl started again before being interrupted by Fred.

"Nobody was hurt. You don't have to worry about us, erm…" Fred paused, waiting for this new girl to give her name. She wasn't the prettiest girl he'd ever seen, and she surely wouldn't be the first one to laugh at his jokes, but there was something about her that he liked. Risking a look at George's ashen-covered face, Fred could tell George knew exactly what he was thinking. It didn't seem to be clear to either twin if this girl standing in front of them knew she would be stuck in his head for reasons Fred himself did not know.

"Hermione." She spoke softly, like she was running out of breath. Fred smiled a bit.

"Well, you don't have to worry about us, Hermione. We're fine." Hermione uttered an "okay" before stepping out of the carriage. The moment she left, Fred felt a fist connect with his shoulder. Turning to the source, he saw that both Lee and George had a grin that seemed to split their faces in two. _What're you trying to do?_ their eyes seemed to question.

_I wish I knew, _Fred thought. What _was _he trying to do? She was probably his little brother's age! He could feel George and Lee glancing at him together before laughing again as thoughts of that unique young girl filled his head. _Why am I even thinking of her? _Fred thought and thought, over and over until the sound of her named in McGonagall's mouth woke him from his trance.

Fred felt his twin's elbow collide with his ribs as the young witch they met on the train walked up to the Sorting Hat. Half of him wished she'd be sorted into his own House so he'd get the chance to see why she was so different, why she, a witch he normally wouldn't think twice about, was all he could think about. The other half of him wished she'd be sorted into any other House so George could just forget about it all and leave him alone.

The hat that Fred had worn only two short years ago bellowed "GRYFFINDOR!" just as it had for him, and he knew that there was a little more than half of him that wanted Hermione in the same House as he. Perhaps that's why the rest of Gryffindor, much to George's amusement, seemed to cheer half as loudly as Fred for their new recruit.


End file.
